Europe
October 15, 2007
Source:
European Space Agency
A new service, developed in the framework of an ESA-supported
project, is using satellite images to compare agricultural crop
sites across Europe in order to ensure the more efficient use of
pesticides.
Pesticides currently used within the European Union (EU) must be
registered with the national members of the European and
Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), which
requires efficiency data derived from field trials. EPPO has
defined zones of comparable climates across Europe that allow
data generated in one country to support registration in another
country within the same climatic zone.
The new service, Site Similarity Certification (SSC), merges
satellite images with conventional data like temperature,
precipitation, soil characteristics and recurring natural
phenomena to improve the scientific approach in defining
comparable zones and the transferability of field trial results
achieved in one EU member state to another.
"In view of the needs for testing and regulating Plant
Protection Products within EPPO member countries, the
continuation of the already successfully started efforts to
integrate the use of satellite images into the process of
pesticide registration seems to be a promising tool," Dr Udo
Heimbach a member of the EPPO Working Party said. "Satellite
images are intended to be used to prove the similarity of trial
sites and herewith to improve the procedure of mutual
recognition of trial results throughout Europe, which is one of
the aims of EPPO."
Proving the comparability of cropping sites saves the pesticide
industry from carrying out expensive perennial trials, allows
field trials to be planned more efficiently and creates the
possibility of substituting missing field trials for Site
Similarity Certifications.
Spatial Business Integration GmbH developed this new service as
part of an ESA Earth Observation Market Development (EOMD)
project. EOMD is a programme aimed at strengthening the European
and Canadian capacity to provide geoinformation services based
mainly on Earth Observation data, with a particular emphasis on
addressing the needs of small value-adding companies. |
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